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Clearwater Appoints New CEO & GM

Posted by: on 12 June 2020

Clearwater Golf Club has appointed Luke Taylor (CEO) and Aiden Berry (General Manager) to its management team.

Kevin Simcock, board chairman, said that to be able to employ two people of the calibre of Luke and Aiden is incredibly exciting for the club and its future.

“Luke’s area of responsibility will cover Management and Leadership, Finance and Governance, Communication, Brand and Profile and relationships with Clearwater Residents Owners Association, Peppers hotel and other key parties.

“Aiden’s focus will be golf centric and include the Course, Member Experience, Club Events and Golf Promotion,” he said.

When the club started advertising for a general manager it was in the pre-Covid era. Now the world has changed completely.

“Extensive American research of golf clubs post the Global Financial Crisis showed that the ones that prospered focused on creating value for members and visitors while those that embarked on a cost-cutting exercise either treaded water or went backwards.

“The board is adopting the former and wants to create greater value for its members while also enhancing considerably the experience at Clearwater.

“Luke’s preference to work a three-day week means we are able to employ both within our budget, yet be able to provide club members with a far broader range of business and golf management skills,” he said.  

Aiden, as general manager at neighbouring Pegasus Golf Club, is already well known to many Clearwater members while Luke’s immediate background is in tourism, hospitality and food and beverage.

“Clearwater is more than just a golf course. We are an integrated resort that includes a hotel and a community. We need to build on this philosophy,” Kevin Simcock said.

Luke Taylor – a former member of the Defence Force, Luke was the youngest Commanding Officer and youngest ship captain of HMNZS Taupo, as well as a Lieutenant Commander (Strategic Commitments) in the Defence Force HQ, in Wellington.
On leaving the Defence Force, Luke was Operations Manager for Real Journeys, one of New Zealand’s largest tourism companies, General Manager (Australia) for Magic Memories, a supplier of innovative photography content to the tourism and theme park sector, and most recently, General Manager for Go Orange, New Zealand’s fastest growing and most dynamic adventure tourism business (Kiwi Discovery, Queenstown Rafting, Fiordland Wilderness Experiences, Thunder Jet and Go Orange Cruise).

Aiden Berry – has been involved in every aspect of golf operations, starting as a trainee golf professional based at Harewood through to General Manager of the Pegasus Golf and Sports Club. Since late last year he has also been acting course superintendent.
In his 10 years at Pegasus, Aiden was involved in every aspect of the club’s business, from coaching and club fitting through to providing strategic direction and execution to financial planning and management. He was particularly successful in boosting Pegasus’ club membership as well as strong growth in their retail sales.he was particular.

 Sir Bob Charles has also just been named the first patron of the Clearwater Golf Club.

Sir Bob and Lady Verity have been an integral part of the club since the 1990s when Bob first became involved with Clearwater working with the golf course’s designer, John Darby.

“To become Patron of the Clearwater Golf Club is an honour which I am most proud of, particularly, as I was part of the team which built the course some 20 years ago”.

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